Former Surrey mayor calls for more transparency on extortion as police commit more resources

Former Surrey mayor Doug McCallum is calling for decisive action on extortion-related crimes as they cause growing fear in the city.

In the over 50 years he’s lived in the area, McCallum says he’s never seen this type of extortion in the city before. He says the India-based Lawrence Bishnoi gang has been escalating its attacks and wants the provincial Extortion Task Force to take immediate action.

One of McCallum’s demands is for the task force to provide daily public updates on their investigations to let people know what’s happening.

“Fear is being driven by lack of information in the public,” said McCallum. “The police do report them, but we need more information of how they’re doing, what they’re doing…”

McCallum says if the task force is more transparent, it will build confidence